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A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there are early examples of international links between municipalities akin to what are known as sister cities or twin towns today dating back to the 9th century, the modern concept was first established and adopted worldwide during World War II.


Origins of the modern concept

The modern concept of town twinning has its roots in the Second World War. More specifically, it was inspired by the bombing of
Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a city in the West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed ...
on 14 November 1940, known as the
Coventry Blitz The Coventry Blitz ( blitz: from the German word ''Blitzkrieg'' meaning "lightning war" ) or Coventration of the city was a series of bombing raids that took place on the British city of Coventry. The city was bombed many times during the Sec ...
. First conceived by the then
Mayor of Coventry The title Lord Mayor of Coventry was created on 3 June 1953 when the dignity was conferred on the city of Coventry, England by Letters Patent as part of the Coronation celebrations of Queen Elizabeth II. Prior to that Coventry had had a Mayor sin ...
, Alfred Robert Grindlay, culminating in his renowned telegram to the people of
Stalingrad Volgograd ( rus, Волгогра́д, a=ru-Volgograd.ogg, p=vəɫɡɐˈɡrat), formerly Tsaritsyn (russian: Цари́цын, Tsarítsyn, label=none; ) (1589–1925), and Stalingrad (russian: Сталингра́д, Stalingrád, label=none; ) ...
(now Volgograd) in 1942, the idea emerged as a way of establishing solidarity links between cities in allied countries that went through similar devastating events. The comradeship between the two cities continued, when again in response to the
Battle of Stalingrad The Battle of Stalingrad (23 August 19422 February 1943) was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II where Nazi Germany and its allies unsuccessfully fought the Soviet Union for control of the city of Stalingrad (later r ...
, 830 women in Coventry – led by the subsequent Mayor Emily Smith – had their names embroidered on a tablecloth along with the words "Little help is better than big sympathy" and sent it, along with money (each donated six pence), to the people of Stalingrad. The tablecloth can now be seen at the Panorama Museum of the Battle of Stalingrad. The twinning between Coventry and Stalingrad was formalised in 1944 and, after the end of the war, similar links were established to foster friendship and understanding among former foes as an act of peace and reconciliation, with new twinnings between Coventry and German cities: Kiel as early as in 1947 and Dresden in 1956. In 1957, Coventry was officially twinned with Belgrade, however, the link actually dates back to 1953 when the Yugoslav Ambassador visited Coventry and offered a gift of timber from his native country for use in the new Civic Theatre, which when finished was named The Belgrade Theatre. The purpose of twinnings then got expanded to encourage trade and tourism or to reflect other links, such as towns sharing the same name or migration links. By the 2000s, town twinning became increasingly used to form strategic international business links among member cities, and may include localities of any scope such as villages, prefectures, or countries.


Terminology

In the United Kingdom, the term "twin towns" is most commonly used; the term "sister cities" is generally used for agreements with towns and cities in the Americas. In mainland Europe, the most commonly used terms are "twin towns", "partnership towns", "partner towns", and "friendship towns". The European Commission uses the term "twinned towns" and refers to the process as "town twinning". Spain uses the term "ciudades hermanadas", which means "twinned cities". Germany, Poland, and the Czech Republic use ''Partnerstadt'' (De) / ''miasto partnerskie'' (Pl) / ''partnerské město'' (Cz), which translate as "partner town" or "partner city". France uses ''ville jumelée'' (jumelage, twinned town or city), and Italy has ''gemellaggio'' (twinning) and ''comune gemellato'' (twinned municipality). In the Netherlands, the term is ''partnerstad'' or ''stedenband'' ("city bond" when providing mutual support). In Greece, the word αδελφοποίηση (''adelphopiisi''fraternisation) has been adopted. In Iceland, the terms ''vinabæir'' (friend towns) and ''vinaborgir'' (friend cities) are used. In the former Soviet Bloc, "twin towns" and "twin cities" were used, along with ''города-побратимы'' (Ru) (sworn brother cities). The Americas, South Asia, and Australasia use the term "sister cities" or "twin cities". In China, the term is 友好城市 (yǒuhǎo chéngshìfriendly cities). Sometimes, other government bodies enter into a twinning relationship, such as the agreement between the provinces of Hainan in China and Jeju in South Korea. The
Douzelage The Douzelage is a town twinning association with one town from each of the member states of the European Union. The name is a portmanteau of the French words "douze" for twelve and "jumelage" for twinning and stands for the twelve founder member ...
is a town twinning association with one town from each of the member states of the European Union. Though the term is often used interchangeably with the term "friendship city", this may mean a relationship with a more limited scope in comparison to a sister city relationship, and friendship city relationships are mayor-to-mayor agreements.


City diplomacy

City diplomacy is a form of paradiplomacy that involves discussions between officials and residents of different cities. Often these cities will be located in different countries. As such, city diplomacy involves a sort of international relations that works in parallel to the conventional system involving embassies, ambassadors, and treaties negotiated at the level of
nation state A nation state is a political unit where the state and nation are congruent. It is a more precise concept than "country", since a country does not need to have a predominant ethnic group. A nation, in the sense of a common ethnicity, may inc ...
s. According to Rodrigo Tavares, the earliest formal attempts to establish city diplomacy across national boundaries took place in the 19th century. Only a handful of cities were involved in the 19th-century efforts; it wasn't until the turn of the millennium that it became much more common. The first priority of those carrying out city diplomacy typically overlaps with the core aims of municipal government – improving the lives of local residents. Yet they will often collaborate with peers in other cities to work on issues of planet-wide concern, such as efforts to address climate change. The phrase "city diplomacy" is formally used in the workings of the United Cities and Local Governments and the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, and is recognised by the USC Center on Public Diplomacy. A March 2014 debate in the British House of Lords acknowledged the evolution of town twinning into city diplomacy, particularly in matters of trade and tourism, but also in culture and post-conflict reconciliation. The importance of cities developing "their own foreign economic policies on trade, foreign investment, tourism and attracting foreign talent" has also been highlighted by the
World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental and lobbying organisation based in Cologny, canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German engineer and economist Klaus Schwab. The foundation, ...
. In addition to C40, other organisations facilitating city diplomacy include the
World Cities Summit The World Cities Summit is an international conference series on public governance and the sustainable development of cities. 2008 The first World Cities Summit, which took place in Singapore from 23 to 25 June 2008, focused on the theme of “ ...
,
City Mayors Foundation The City Mayors Foundation, also known as City Mayors, is an international think tank dedicated to urban affairs. It has been active since 2003 and runs the biennial World Mayor award, as well as providing pro bono consultancy services. Unlike Eu ...
, the ''Smart City Expo World Congress'', the ''Strong City Network'' and ''100 Resilient Cities.'' As of 2016, there were over 125 such multilateral networks and forums to facilitate international collaboration between different municipal authorities. Research showed that the mayors of the cities play an active role in city diplomacy. A Bill introduced in the 2019 session of the US Congress would have legislated for a City and State Diplomacy Act to create a new Office of Subnational Diplomacy at the Department of Statebr>H.R.3571 - 116th Congress (2019-2020): City and State Diplomacy Act
Recently, the field of city diplomacy has taken a step beyond city-to-city exchanges to target the facilitation of dialogue between cities and multilateral organs, such as the United Nations.


Twinning beyond cities and towns

Not only cities and towns, but also provinces, states, territories, and regions enter into twinning agreements. For example, the Canadian province of Alberta has "sister province" agreements with
Gangwon, South Korea Gangwon Province is a province of South Korea, with its capital at Chuncheon. It is bound on the east by the Sea of Japan, and borders Gyeonggi Province to its west, North Gyeongsang Province and North Chungcheong Province to its south, and the ...
(since 1974),
Hokkaido, Japan is Japan, Japan's Japanese archipelago, second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost Prefectures of Japan, prefecture, making up its own List of regions of Japan, region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; th ...
(since 1980),
Heilongjiang, China Heilongjiang () formerly romanized as Heilungkiang, is a province in northeast China. The standard one-character abbreviation for the province is (). It was formerly romanized as "Heilungkiang". It is the northernmost and easternmost provinc ...
(1981),
Jalisco, Mexico Jalisco (, , ; Nahuatl: Xalixco), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Jalisco ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Jalisco ; Nahuatl: Tlahtohcayotl Xalixco), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the 32 Federal En ...
(1999), Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine (2004),
Lviv, Ukraine Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukraine ...
(2005), and
Guangdong, China Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...
(2017), as well as policy-oriented (as opposed to economic and cultural) agreements with Nevada (since 2013), Missouri (2015), Texas (2018).


Europe

The earliest known town twinning in Europe was between
Paderborn Paderborn (; Westphalian: ''Patterbuorn'', also ''Paterboärn'') is a city in eastern North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, capital of the Paderborn district. The name of the city derives from the river Pader and ''Born'', an old German term for t ...
, Germany, and
Le Mans Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le ...
, France, in 836. Starting in 1905, Keighley in West Yorkshire, England, had a twinning arrangement with French communities Suresnes and
Puteaux Puteaux () is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France. It is located in the heart of the Hauts-de-Seine department, from the centre of Paris. In 2016, it had a population of 44,941. La Défense, Paris's business district hosting th ...
. The first recorded modern twinning agreement was between Keighley and
Poix-du-Nord Poix-du-Nord () is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. Heraldry Town twinning * Keighley, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom See also *Communes of the Nord department The following is a list of the 648 communes of the Nord de ...
in Nord, France, in 1920 following the end of the World War I. This was initially referred to as an adoption of the French town; formal twinning charters were not exchanged until 1986. The practice was continued after the Second World War as a way to promote mutual understanding and cross-border projects of mutual benefit. For example,
Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a city in the West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed ...
twinned with
Stalingrad Volgograd ( rus, Волгогра́д, a=ru-Volgograd.ogg, p=vəɫɡɐˈɡrat), formerly Tsaritsyn (russian: Цари́цын, Tsarítsyn, label=none; ) (1589–1925), and Stalingrad (russian: Сталингра́д, Stalingrád, label=none; ) ...
and later with Dresden as an act of peace and reconciliation, all three cities having been heavily bombed during the war. The city of
Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...
formed an "
Alkmaar Alkmaar () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the province of North Holland, about 30 km north of Amsterdam. Alkmaar is well known for its traditional cheese market. For tourists, it is a popular cultural destination. The ...
Adoption committee" in March 1945, when the Dutch city was still occupied by the German Army in the final months of the war, and children from each city took part in exchanges in 1945 and 1946. Similarly, in 1947,
Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
Corporation (later Bristol City Council) sent five "leading citizens" on a goodwill mission to Hanover.
Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of letters, symbols, etc., especially by sight or touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process involving such areas as word recognition, orthography (spelling) ...
in 1947 was the first British town to form links with a former "enemy" city – Düsseldorf, a link that still exists. Since 9 April 1956 Rome and Paris have been exclusively and reciprocally twinned with each other, following the motto: "Only Paris is worthy of Rome; only Rome is worthy of Paris." Within Europe, town twinning is supported by the European Union. The support scheme was established in 1989. In 2003 an annual budget of about was allocated to about 1,300 projects. The
Council of European Municipalities and Regions The Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR) is the largest organisation of local and regional governments in Europe. Its members are 60 national associations of towns, municipalities and regions from 41 countries that are part of the ...
also works closely with the commission (DG Education and Culture) to promote modern, high quality twinning initiatives and exchanges that involve all sections of the community. It has launched a website dedicated to town twinning. As of 1995, the European Union had more than 7,000 bilateral relationships involving almost 10,000 European municipalities, primarily French (2837 twinnings) and German (2485 twinnings).
Public art Public art is art in any media whose form, function and meaning are created for the general public through a public process. It is a specific art genre with its own professional and critical discourse. Public art is visually and physically acces ...
has been used to celebrate twin town links, for instance in the form of seven mural paintings in the centre of the town of Sutton, Greater London. The five main paintings show a number of the main features of the
London Borough of Sutton The London Borough of Sutton () is a London borough in south-west London, England and forms part of Outer London. It covers an area of and is the 80th largest local authority in England by population. It borders the London Borough of Croydon to ...
and its four twin towns, along with the
heraldic shield In heraldry, an escutcheon () is a shield that forms the main or focal element in an achievement of arms. The word can be used in two related senses. In the first sense, an escutcheon is the shield upon which a coat of arms is displayed. In the ...
of each above the other images. Each painting also features a plant as a visual representation of its town's environmental awareness. In the case of Sutton this is in a separate smaller painting (above its main one) showing a beech tree, intended as a symbol of prosperity and from which
Carshalton Beeches Carshalton () is a town, with a historic village centre, in south London, England, within the London Borough of Sutton. It is situated south-southwest of Charing Cross, in the valley of the River Wandle, one of the sources of which is Carshalton ...
in the borough derives its name. Another example of the use of public art is the wall sculpture of the partner cities of Munich, Germany. A recent study has concluded that geographical distance has very little, if any, influence upon communities' selections of a twin town. Twinned towns are often chosen because of similarities between them; thus about 15 towns in Wales are twinned with towns in
Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period o ...
, and Oxford is with
Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr ...
, Leiden, Grenoble and other university cities. In Italy, two sets of twins are Rovigo with Viernheim, and
Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst t ...
with
Tulcea Tulcea (; also known by other alternative names) is a city in Northern Dobruja, Romania. It is the administrative center of Tulcea County, and had a population of 73,707 . One village, Tudor Vladimirescu, is administered by the city. Names Th ...
. Many former West German cities are twinned with former East German cities; these twinning links were established before the fall of the
Iron Curtain The Iron Curtain was the political boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991. The term symbolizes the efforts by the Soviet Union (USSR) to block itself and its s ...
. Famous examples are the partnerships of Hanover and Leipzig, both of which have important trade fair grounds, or between Hamburg and Dresden. The first US-German town twinning was in 1947 between Worthington, Minnesota and
Crailsheim Crailsheim is a town in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. Incorporated in 1338, it lies east of Schwäbisch Hall and southwest of Ansbach in the Schwäbisch Hall district. The city's main attractions include two Evangelical churches, a ...
. St Petersburg in Russia holds the record for the largest number of partnership arrangements with other communities. In June 2012, the Scottish village of
Dull Dull may refer to: __NOTOC__ Places * Dull, Perth and Kinross, Scotland, United Kingdom, a village * Dull, Ohio, United States, an unincorporated community * Dull, Texas, United States, a ghost town People * Jack Dull (1930–1995), American pr ...
and the US town of
Boring, Oregon Boring is an unincorporated community in Clackamas County, Oregon, United States. It is located along Oregon Route 212 in the foothills of the Cascade mountain range, approximately southeast of downtown Portland, and northeast of Oregon City. ...
, agreed to twin their municipalities to promote tourism in both places, playing on their names. Recently some towns have made novelty twinning arrangements with fictional or virtual locations.
Wincanton Wincanton ( or ) is a small town and electoral ward in South Somerset, southwest England. The town lies off the A303 road, a main route between London and South West England, and has some light industry. The town and electoral ward has a populat ...
, England is partnered with
Ankh-Morpork Ankh-Morpork is a fictional city-state which features prominently in Terry Pratchett's ''Discworld'' fantasy novels. Overview Pratchett describes Ankh-Morpork as the biggest city in Discworld and its corrupt mercantile capital. In ''The Art ...
from Terry Pratchett's Discworld books. Town twinning has increasingly been used to form strategic international business links. For example, in the 1990s, when the
Nottingham City Council Nottingham City Council is the local authority for the unitary authority of Nottingham in Nottinghamshire, England. It consists of 55 councillors, representing a total of 20 wards, elected every four years. The council is led by David Mellen, of ...
in the UK considered installing a tram network, it consulted experts from its twin city of Karlsruhe, which has one of the most extensive and efficient tram networks in Germany. With assistance from Karlsruhe's specialist engineers, Nottingham completed its second tram line in 2013. In 2014,
Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
and New Orleans announced their intention to form a "tuning" partnership based on a shared musical heritage and culture offer, at the initiative of Bristol Mayor George Ferguson.
Annecy Annecy ( , ; frp, Èneci or ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France. It lies on the northern tip of Lake Annecy, south of Geneva, Switzerland. Nicknamed t ...
, France and Nerima, Tokyo have for several years shared a partnership based on their "co-existent animation industry".


North America

Toledo, United States, twinned with
Toledo, Spain Toledo ( , ) is a city and municipality of Spain, capital of the province of Toledo and the ''de jure'' seat of the government and parliament of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castilla–La Mancha. Toledo was declare ...
, in 1931 and was the first city in North America to engage in town twinning.
Vancouver, Canada Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. The ...
, twinned with
Odessa, Ukraine Odesa (also spelled Odessa) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. The city is also the administrativ ...
, in 1944 was the first in Canada and second in North America while Denver, United States, twinned with
Brest, France Brest (; ) is a port city in the Finistère department, Brittany. Located in a sheltered bay not far from the western tip of the peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French ...
was the second twinned city in the United States. Liberal, Kansas, was twinned with Olney, United Kingdom, in 1950, and the cities have run a joint Pancake Day race ever since. Littleton, Colorado, twinned with Bega, Australia, in 1961. Tashkent, the capital city of Uzbekistan, was twinned with Seattle, Washington, in 1973. Rochester, Minnesota, and
Knebworth Knebworth is a village and civil parish in the north of Hertfordshire, England, immediately south of Stevenage. The civil parish covers an area between the villages of Datchworth, Woolmer Green, Codicote, Kimpton, Whitwell, St Paul's Walden an ...
, UK, are both centers for primary medical research, and they twinned in 1967. Ontario, California, has five sister cities around the world. They are Brockville, Ontario, Canada (since 1977), Guamúchil, Sinaloa, Mexico (since 1982), Mocorito, Sinaloa, Mexico (since 1982), Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico (since 1988), and Winterthur, Canton of Zürich, Switzerland.
Oakville, Ontario Oakville is a town in Halton Region, Ontario, Canada. It is located on Lake Ontario between Toronto and Hamilton. At its 2021 census population of 213,759, it is Ontario's largest town. Oakville is part of the Greater Toronto Area, one of the ...
, is twinned with
Dorval, Quebec Dorval () is an on-island suburban city on the island of Montreal in southwestern Quebec, Canada. In 2016, the Canadian Census indicated that the population increased by 4.2% to 18,980. Although the city has the largest surface area in Montré ...
, Huai'an, China, and
Neyagawa, Osaka 270px, Neyagawa Green City is a city located in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 228,802 in 111,545 households and a population density of 9,300 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Ney ...
, Japan. Town twinning begins for a variety of reasons. Generally, partner towns have similar demographics and size. They may arise from business connections, travel, similar industries, diaspora communities, or shared history. For example, the partnership between Portland, Oregon, and Bologna, Italy, arose from shared industries in
biotechnology Biotechnology is the integration of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms, cells, parts thereof and molecular analogues for products and services. The term ''biotechnology'' was first used by ...
and education, and a "similar attitude towards food", whereas Chicago's link with Warsaw, Poland began with Chicago's historic Polish community. The twinning of
Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...
with Monza, Italy, is due to both cities' long association with
auto racing Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organis ...
. A twin towns program was instituted in the United States in 1956 when President
Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...
proposed a citizen diplomacy initiative. Sister Cities International (SCI) was originally a program of the National League of Cities, but it became a separate corporation in 1967 due to the growth and popularity of the program. Twin town cultural events include the annual
National Cherry Blossom Festival The National Cherry Blossom Festival is a spring celebration in Washington, D.C., commemorating the March 27, 1912, gift of Japanese cherry trees from Mayor Yukio Ozaki of Tokyo City to the city of Washington, D.C. Ozaki gave the trees to enhan ...
in Washington, D.C., honoring Washington's twin relationship with Tokyo City. Many twinned towns developed business agreements with their partners. For example, Vermont's Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream company opened a factory in the
Republic of Karelia The Republic of Karelia (russian: Респу́блика Каре́лия, Respublika Kareliya; ; krl, Karjalan tašavalta; ; fi, Karjalan tasavalta; vep, Karjalan Tazovaldkund, Ludic: ''Kard’alan tazavald''), also known as just Karelia (ru ...
in Russia and offered the same profit-sharing plan to its Russian employees.


Asia

China's sister city relationships are managed by the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, a united front organization. Town twinning is supported in Japan by the Council of Local Authorities for International Relations, a joint agency of local governments established by the Japanese government in 1988 (similar to Sister Cities International, its counterpart in the US). In Japan, the international city relations may be split into multiple terms, such as Sister Cities, Friendship Cooperation Cities, Business Partner Cities (BPC), Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), Sister Ports / Friendship Ports, etc. Japan and China mostly use the term "friendship cooperation cities" rather than "sister cities," as the Japanese and Chinese words for sisters, "姉妹 / 姐妹" (reading: shimai / jiěmèi, literally elder sister and younger sister), could imply a hierarchical relationship. More recently, Tokyo has begun to actively promote 'city diplomacy' with other global cities at the initiative of its governor
Yoichi Masuzoe Yoichi may refer to: *Yōichi, Japanese given name *, district in Shiribeshi, Hokkaidō Prefecture, Japan *, town in Yoichi District *, a Japanese whisky distillery in the town *, train station in Yoichi District * also Yoichi is a masculine Japane ...
.


Africa


Linguistic reasons

Relationships between communities can also arise because of shared names; they may be named after one community (as in the case of Córdoba), they may share names (as in the case of
Santiago de Compostela Santiago de Compostela is the capital of the autonomous community of Galicia, in northwestern Spain. The city has its origin in the shrine of Saint James the Great, now the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, as the destination of the Way of S ...
), or their names may have a common etymology. These similarities usually arise from sharing the same or related language or having been a colony or previously conquered.


Political significance

The twinning of towns and cities is sometimes done for political purposes. The Hungarian city Gyöngyös was twinned with the Azerbaijani city of Shusha in 2013, signing the twinning agreement with representatives from the Azerbaijani government; Hungary recognised Shusha as '' de jure'' part of Azerbaijan, even though it was controlled at the time and until 2020 by the military forces of
Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ''Ox ...
and the unrecognised Artsakh. An attempt was made in 2003 by
Preston Preston is a place name, surname and given name that may refer to: Places England *Preston, Lancashire, an urban settlement **The City of Preston, Lancashire, a borough and non-metropolitan district which contains the settlement **County Boro ...
city councillors in England to twin with the Palestinian town of Nablus in the name of solidarity. Turkey bans partnerships with any city in a country that recognizes the
Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily through th ...
. As a result, when Bulgaria recognized the genocide in 2016, some twin agreements such as
Edirne Edirne (, ), formerly known as Adrianople or Hadrianopolis (Greek: Άδριανούπολις), is a city in Turkey, in the northwestern part of the province of Edirne in Eastern Thrace. Situated from the Greek and from the Bulgarian borders, ...
Haskovo were terminated by Turkey. In November 2020, U.S. senator Marsha Blackburn introduced legislation, the Sister City Transparency Act, to provide federal oversight to mitigate risks of sister city agreements being used for political influence campaigns.


Termination

* In 2012, the city of Nanjing suspended their sister city relationship with Nagoya after Nanjing Massacre denialist statements by Nagoya's mayor, Takashi Kawamura. * In 2013, the Italian cities of Milan, Venice, and Turin, formerly twinned with Saint Petersburg, suspended their links due to Russia's passage of anti-gay legislation. Activists in California circulated petitions urging California cities and counties with relationships with Russian counterparts to take similar steps. * In 2014, Prague terminated its partnership with Saint Petersburg and Moscow because of the Russian military intervention in Ukraine. Moscow had been Prague's partner city since 1995. * In 2017, the mayor of Osaka,
Hirofumi Yoshimura is a Japanese politician currently serving as the Governor of Osaka Prefecture. He assumed office in April 2019. He has been described as a conservative. Early life Yoshimura was born in the Osaka suburb of Kawachinagano. He studied law at K ...
, ended the city's 60-year relationship with San Francisco due to the erection of a
memorial A memorial is an object or place which serves as a focus for the memory or the commemoration of something, usually an influential, deceased person or a historical, Tragedy (event), tragic event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objec ...
to
comfort women Comfort women or comfort girls were women and girls forced into sexual slavery by the Imperial Japanese Army in occupied countries and territories before and during World War II. The term "comfort women" is a translation of the Japanese '' ia ...
in
downtown San Francisco The Financial District is a neighborhood in San Francisco, California, United States, that serves as its main central business district and had 372,829 jobs according to U.S. census tracts as of 2012-2016. It is home to the city's largest concen ...
. Similarly, the cities of Glendale, California, and
Higashiōsaka is a city located in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 489,077 in 233,124 households and a population density of 7900 persons per km². The total area of the city is . The city is known as one of the industrial ci ...
, Japan, came close to terminating their twinning in 2013 and 2014 because of an ongoing dispute over Glendale's support for the erection of a statue dedicated to Korean comfort women in a city park. * In July 2020, the town council of Nieuwegein, a Dutch city south of Utrecht, voted to end its friendship with Puławy in eastern Poland, citing " gay free zones" as the reason. * In March 2022, the
City of Melbourne The City of Melbourne is a local government area in Victoria, Australia, located in the central city area of Melbourne. In 2018, the city has an area of and had a population of 169,961. Estimated resident population, 30 June 2018. The ci ...
council voted unanimously to suspend its relationship with St Petersburg as a result of the on-going Russian invasion of Ukraine. * On 22 March 2022, Coventry City Council unanimously voted to temporarily pause the City’s link with Volgograd (formerly Stalingrad) and explore twinning with Mariupol, Ukraine, instead due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.


Gallery


Louisville sistercities.jpg,
Louisville Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border. ...
's twin towns Kralupy nad Vltavou CZ twin towns 086.jpg, Insignia of twin towns on town hall in
Kralupy nad Vltavou Kralupy nad Vltavou (; german: Kralup an der Moldau) is a town in Mělník District in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 18,000 inhabitants. It is known as a traffic hub and industrial agglomeration. The town is a par ...
, Czech Republic Direction signs - Plovdiv's sister cities, Bulgaria.JPG, Plovdiv, Bulgaria, twin towns directions Twin town signs Kemi 20110627.JPG, Twin town signs of
Kemi Kemi (; sme, Giepma ; smn, Kiemâ; sms, Ǩeeʹmm; Swedish (historically): ''Kiemi'') is a town and municipality of Finland. It is located very near the city of Tornio and the Swedish border. The distance to Oulu is to the south and to Rovani ...
, Finland Tawau Sabah Twin-Town-Memorial-01.jpg, Twin town monument in Tawau, Sabah, Malaysia Concord-Kitakami sister city sign.jpg, Artwork produced by Japanese and American citizens to celebrate the sister city relationship between
Concord Concord may refer to: Meaning "agreement" * Pact or treaty, frequently between nations (indicating a condition of harmony) * Harmony, in music * Agreement (linguistics), a change in the form of a word depending on grammatical features of other ...
, and Kitakami Holon Twin cities.JPG, Holon, Israel, a twin towns garden Welcome to Glastonbury - geograph.org.uk - 1114993.jpg, Welcome to Glastonbury, UK – Twin towns Lalibela, Ethiopia, and Patmos, Greece SporazumSuresnes.jpg, Kragujevac and Suresnes twinning agreement Zalaegerszeg testvérvárosait jelző tábla.jpg, Zalaegerszeg, Hungary twinnings


See also

* Council of Local Authorities for International Relations * Cross-border town naming *
Douzelage The Douzelage is a town twinning association with one town from each of the member states of the European Union. The name is a portmanteau of the French words "douze" for twelve and "jumelage" for twinning and stands for the twelve founder member ...
* Global city * Lists of twin towns and sister cities * List of twin towns and sister cities in Europe * Paradiplomacy * Partnership2Gether * Sister Cities International * Twin cities


References


External links


Town twinning in Europe's municipalities, towns and regions

Twinning in Europe

UK Town Twinning Portal
* {{Authority control Municipal international relations International relations Types of towns Cities by type Cultural exchange